Approval had been held up by inaction on the part of Southwest Healthcare System <br>This article has been modified since its original posting

Plans for a 320-bed hospital and cancer treatment center in
Temecula have received long-awaited approval by the state agency
that authorizes hospital construction.

With that approval in hand, Southwest Healthcare System can move
forward with plans to build a hospital on a 35-acre site near the
northwest intersection of Margarita Road and Temecula
Parkway.

As for whether that will actually happen, all signs point to
hopefully.

Southwest officials have said numerous times that the company, a
subsidiary of King of Prussia, Pa.-based Universal Health Systems,
won't "turn its energy toward the Temecula project" until Southwest
is allowed to open up two new multimillion-dollar additions at
Inland Valley Medical Center in Wildomar and Rancho Springs Medical
Center in Murrieta.

Work on the Inland Valley addition is nearly complete, hospital
officials have said. The opening of the Rancho Springs addition has
been held up by state officials who have said they would only
reconsider Southwest's application if the company passes a final
inspection and the federal government continues to reimburse the
hospitals for treatment of poor and elderly patients.

The chances of both of those things happening took a hit recently
with the release of a report from health inspectors that called
into question Southwest's ability to keep receiving federal funding
because of problems with its care of jaundiced newborns.

Southwest spokeswoman Teresa Fleege said Monday night that it is
her understanding the company plans to start building the Temecula
hospital next year.

"We expect to break ground in summer 2010," she said.

David Byrnes, a spokesman for the Office of Statewide Health
Planning and Development, said Monday that his office's approval,
issued last week, comes with some conditions:

Southwest still needs to hire a contractor, apply to the state for
a building permit and start construction within a year.

If Southwest does not move forward within that timeframe, the
approval will be void, Byrnes said, citing state code.

Asked if he was confident of Southwest's ability to start
construction next year, Councilman Jeff Comerchero said he couldn't
answer the question until there are further discussions with
top-level Universal Health Systems officials.

Universal management, to date, has rebuffed the city's attempts to
open a direct dialogue, city officials say.

Councilman Mike Naggar, asked the same question, was blunt with his
assessment.

"I am not confident it's going to be built anytime soon," he
said.

The Temecula City Council gave final approval to the blueprints for
the hospital in early 2008 ---- four years after the project had
been first pitched. The proposal had been delayed by a lawsuit
filed by a nurses union and a group concerned about traffic and
noise that might be generated by the project.

Since that council action, the plans for the hospital had been
under review by the state.

Southwest officials tried to force the state's hand by organizing a
letter-writing campaign that made it seem as if the state was
dragging its feet on the review.

The state responded to those claims by sending out a detailed list
of the items that had not been completed by Southwest in a timely
matter.

In June, the state's tentative approval of the hospital plans
expired and state officials said they were waiting for Southwest to
send in a letter to have the project revived.

Due in part to Southwest's decision to delay the Temecula project
until after the opening of the expansions in Murrieta and Temecula,
Naggar, a member of the city's health care subcommittee, has said
the city would consider bringing in another health care provider to
build a hospital here.

The Temecula hospital, if it is finished, would be one of five
hospitals in the area. Two of the other hospitals, Inland Valley
Medical Center in Wildomar and Rancho Springs Medical Center in
Murrieta, are managed by Southwest. There also is a hospital in Sun
City.

The fourth hospital, a 100-plus bed teaching hospital in Murrieta
that will be run by Loma Linda University Medical Center, is
expected to open in 2011.

When all five hospitals are up and running, there will be about 700
hospital beds in the area, bringing Southwest County closer to the
statewide ratio of two beds per 1,000 residents. The national ratio
is nearly three beds per every 1,000 residents.

Increasing the number of hospital beds locally has been a priority
for the council; when Naggar was mayor in 2008, he created a health
care task force to boost the quantity and quality of care offered
in Southwest County.

Call staff writer Aaron Claverie at 951-676-4315, ext. 2624.

Correction: This article has been corrected to reflect that
Southwest Healthcare System will need to apply to the state for a
building permit before it will be allowed to start work on a
hospital in Temecula. An article in Tuesday's edition of The
Californian said incorrectly that Southwest needed to apply to the
city for the permit.